Editor:

You have a lovely site. I especially appreciate how the site exudes positivity rather than attacking fundies — yet does not sidestep the issue, either. This was my religious background, and is a cherished belief system of my family. I’ve viewed sites that are religiously pro-gay and religiously anti-gay whose vitriolic language, excessive use of exclamation points and large-type blinking text made me stop only long enough to wipe the virtual spittle off the screen before quickly passing on to another site. 🙂

— Chad E.

Editor:

Hello and we are so happy to find you!! Please keep up the good work. It is so affirming to visit your love-filled site. We will keep coming back now that we know you are here. and we will tell all our friends. God bless you.

— Margaret and Loretta

Editor:

I’d like to take this opportunity to raise a question that came to me after reading about Rev. Mel White, Marvin Liebman and other conservatives who risked everything in order to come out: Where are their counterparts?

What I mean by “counterparts” are people of position or power in the gay community who realized that the work they were doing was evil, spiritually empty, death-oriented, or whatever and forsook those positions in order to speak out against what they’d witnessed.

I’m not talking about these sad cases who took “the cure” to regain the acceptance of a family or church that had rejected them and now appear on the 700 Club reading their scripts. I mean someone who suffered personal loss by standing up to their convictions and leaving the gay community.

So far I haven’t found any. Have you? If you have, then I guess this issue is more balanced than I thought. If not, I think you’ll agree that this issue speaks volumes about the nature of homosexuality and against the lies told by its opponents.

The Bible is full of people from Paul on down, who realized the truth and gave up everything in order to turn to God. Even the Soviets had their high-level defectors.

But you and I know that we will never see an ex-gay Urvashi Vaid standing with her new husband and Pat Robertson to denounce the “homosexual agenda” and her role in it. Because any gay person in a position of leadership in the community knows they were born that way and knows that the opposition is unjust. God will never reveal to them the error of their ways because there is no error in their ways. — Mark P.

Editor:

I would just like to express a word of thanks for having such a service to gay Christians. It is truly meaningful to know that people are not alone in this world. I am in college and have come out there, but have not found the courage to do so at home. But knowing God has a plan for everyone, regardless of who or what they are is a dream come true. Again, thank you very much.

— Michael

Editor:

Thanks for your part in making Whosoever possible. All the others who write, edit, maintain the website or whatever they do to put Whosoever on the Internet get my thanks as well. May God bless you all richly. I have been blessed by your latest January/February 98 issue. I am standing in the doorway of my gay closet where I have hidden for many years getting ready to make a step towards leaving it. Reading Ron Chaplan’s article “I am a Queer Christian” helped me to begin celebrating who God made me. The various other articles of this issue helped open my eyes to the persecution that I will no doubt encounter, but what was best was that the articles showed me that the way of Jesus is to love my enemies and those who might hurt me in their trying to correct me. Because of reading Whosoever on the weekend, I made contact with a Christian Gay/Bi/Lesbian positive support group and hope to attend a meeting shortly. Thanks again for the ministry of all you at Whosoever. Keep up the great blessed work that you do.

— Rob

Editor:

It feels so warm and wonderful to read such well researched non-judgemental spritual support. Each time I read a religious publication of the Catholic Church, I feel a little less than human. This is like water to a thirsty traveller. — David C.

Editor:

I loved the articles about scripture and made a hard copy to study later. I like the article on “Seven Things” – excellent. I especially appreciate the logical, calm reasoning with approach to the whole issue of “Christian gay people.” And besides that, it is very well-done – very eye-catching and PRETTY! Great job! I will come to this site often and tell my friends. — Donna B.

Editor:

I am a heterosexual male, married, three children. I am also sympathetic to the cause of gay and lesbian persons who desire to live out their faith in the church. I am a senior seminarian enrolled at the School of Theology at the University of the South studying for the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. I am proud that my church is on the forefront of ensuring that persons of homosexual orientation have available to them all of the benefits of the church. I believe that the debate currently on going in the Episcopal Church is among the most honest and most enlightened among the mainline churches. Furthermore, I don’t believe that it will long before the Episcopal Church has an official policy statement regarding the legitimacy of the comitted, monagamous, faithful, life-long gay or lesbian union. The church, of course, will always condemn any behavior that is abusive, destructive, lude, or predatory, but this applies to any such behavior whether in a homosexual or heterosexual context.

Good luck with your efforts. Remember: Ignorance is not necessarily evil, it is only necessarily indicative of a lack of information. What you are doing with Whosoever will help to address this void. — Frank W.